Bots features

Strong points and features of Bots Frozen

 Posted on November 26, 2024  |  Bots Community Member

Bots Frozen is powerful and very stable. Learn about strong points and the features of Bots Open Source EDI translator.

Strong points of Bots open source EDI translator

  • A complete EDI translator.
  • Supports many EDI formats. All EDIFACT messages and X12 transactions as download.
  • Powerful translations. Eg tackle the ‘many similar yet different translations’ in a sensible way.
  • Good documentation.
  • Very stable. Good performance. Runs over 150K EDI files per month easily.
  • Use the configuration change management to eg push changes test->production.
  • Build-in acknowledgements/confirmations (997, CONTRL).
  • Maintenance free.
  • Flexible.
  • Open source.
  • Platform independent; runs on Windows, Linux, OSX, Unix.
  • Commercial support available: EbbersConsult. Hire an expert!

Features of Bots open source EDI translator

EDI data formats

  • EDIFACT - all messages/all versions available as download.
  • X12 - all transactions/all versions are available as download.
  • tradacoms
  • xml
  • csv/delimited
  • fixed records
  • excel
  • json
  • sap idoc
  • eancom
  • EDI to readable format (html)
  • direct database communication

Powerful translations

  • Bots translates any formats to any format. Translate to the format you can directly use!
  • Powerful mapping: easy querying of EDI messages to retrieve and place content. Think of Xpath or SQL, but tailored for edi.
  • Partner dependent translations.
  • Partner dependent syntax (often needed for X12).
  • Tackle the ‘many similar yet different translations’ in a sensible way.
  • Code conversion, e.g. EAN/UCC-numbers to internal article number.
  • Fully integrated Unicode (character sets).
  • Build-in acknowledgements/confirmations (997, CONTRL).

Management of EDI flows (bots-monitor)

  • Bots-monitor is web based. Use from any workstation in your company.
  • Clear, non-cluttered interface.
  • View and follow incoming and outgoing EDI flows.
  • View business documents like orders and invoices.
  • View the contents of EDI files.
  • View the send and received acknowledgements/confirmations (997, CONTRL).
  • Re-send and re-receive EDI messages via interface.
  • Get notified by mail in case of errors.

Flexible deployment

  • Good scheduling options.
  • Communication and translations can be manually started, be scheduled or started from eg ERP software.
  • Automatic restart of EDI files when communication fails.
  • Use different user rights: viewers, staff, superuser.
  • Use interface over HTTP or HTTPS/SSL.
  • Maintenance free: bots does automatic maintenance of database, files etc.
  • Archiving of EDI files.
  • Directory monitoring/watching (version 3.0)

Communications

  • pop3 including tls, ssl.
  • imap including tls, ssl.
  • smtp including tls, ssl.
  • ftp, sftp, ftps (in- and explicit)
  • File I/O
  • XML-RPC
  • http(s)
  • Database connector (direct communication to database).
  • External communication modules.
  • User scriptable communication.
  • VAN’s. Connections work with X400, IPMail, Sterling Commerce, Inovis, GXS, InterCommit.
  • AS/2: not directly, but successful implementations have been done with: http://as2.mendelson-e-c.com

Plugins for distributable configuration

  • Easy installation of EDI scenarios.
  • Example configurations can be downloaded.
  • Distribution and sharing of configurations by e.g. users, ERP-suppliers, edi-communities or edi-hubs.
  • Make a plugin of your configuration; eg for support purposes, configuration back-up, for test environement.
  • Easy update/patch possible.

Technical features

  • Platform independent; runs on Windows, Linux, OSX, Unix.
  • Programming language: Python.
  • Python is used for configuration (mapping scripts, grammars, user exits etc); not a self-invented toy language. One advantage: use syntax highlighting and python syntax check in a editor.
  • Bots uses the django web frame-work.
  • By default the cherrypy web server is used. Bots is scalable: use apache as web server.
  • By default uses SQLite database. Bots is scalable: use MySQL, PostgreSQLdatabases as database.
  • Heavy customizable by user scripting/user exits.
  • Powerful debug options when developing EDI translations.
  • Great features to test your configuration.
  • Use different/multiple environments. Think of test and production ;-)
  • Use configuration change management to eg push changes test->production.
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